Guide to Its Use
Chapter Two: Implementing MSC, in 10 Steps
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- Step 1: How to start and raise interest
- Metaphors for explaining the approach
- Getting familiar with the approach
- Role of champions
Chapter Two: Implementing MSC, in 10 StepsIn this Chapter, we discuss how to implement MSC using the following steps:
[Before we elaborate the individual steps, it is worth considering which steps are fundamental, and which are discretionary. We believe that MSC is defined by three fundamental steps:
Whether the remaining steps are included will depend on the organisational context and purpose for implementing MSC. Step 1: How to start and raise interestGetting started is perhaps the most daunting step. People may be sceptical about the validity of the technique and fear that it will take too much time. It often takes an enthusiastic individual or small group to raise interest in MSC. This can involve visiting key people and groups and showing them the methodology. It often helps to present stories from other programs and to show example reports. It is best to start by presenting the technique in simple terms because the full theory may confuse some people. Many practitioners will not need to understand the theory behind MSC. The message to be conveyed at the start is that MSC is simple and straightforward to implement. If you want to raise interest in MSC, it helps if there is clarity about the purpose of MSC and the role it will play in your organisation (see Chapter 4). We emphasise that MSC is not a stand-alone technique for monitoring and evaluation (see Chapter 6). For potential MSC adopters and users who want to know more about the theory, Chapter 7 sets out the underlying ideas and explains how and why the MSC approach differs from other approaches. Experts' resistance - Guatemala "In our work we had to deal with quite some scepticism towards the qualitative approach and the explicitly subjective element of MSC among project staff of partner organisations. This was not so much the case among the field staff as it was with regard to those responsible for M&E and with a solid education/training in Logical Framework thinking" Silke Mason, Ibis, Guatemala Metaphors for explaining the approachExplaining what MSC does is no simple task. If you are the person who is attempting to initiate the adoption of MSC, it may help to use a metaphor. These are our favourite metaphors: Newspaper . A newspaper summarises yesterdays’ important events not via pages and pages of indicators (though they can be found in some sections) but by using news stories, about exceptionally interesting events. Papers are structured into different subject areas (foreign news, domestic news, financial news, sport, leisure) in the same way that MSC uses domains. The most important stories go on the front page, and the most important of these is usually at the top of the front page. School of fish. A social change program has numerous practitioners (fish) swimming in slightly different directions, each with individual values but a common goal. MSC helps the individual fish to communicate with each other: “Where do we really want to go? Should we swim away from the sharks and towards a safe place to lay our eggs or first head for food?” MSC uses communication to help all the fish swim in roughly the same direction, away from what is not good and towards what is good. It helps them swim as a school towards a commonly valued destination. Another related metaphor is of the organisation as an amoeba, extending in directions where it wants to go, and withdrawing from areas it does not like, all on the basis of the signals being received from its surrounding environment. Holiday memories. What do you remember from an overseas holiday? Do you remember the average things or the wonderful and terrible things? MSC helps teams of people focus on the memorable events on the outer edges of experience and uses these events to help realign effort towards achieving more of the wonderful things and less of the terrible things. When the focus is on learning, we need to capture more than just the average experiences. Restaurant Menu. MSC does not present one version of what is happening but a series of glimpses of what a program is achieving. Stakeholders can select from these glimpses in much the same way as they would select food from a restaurant menu. Choices are based on individual preferences. In the MSC restaurant, you are asked to try and articulate the reasons for your choice. Because the restaurant has a very responsive chef, the choices your table makes will encourage the chef to present a revised menu to the next groups of customers. Getting familiar with the approachAnother really important lesson we have learned from experience is to start small. It is a risky exercise to implement a huge and complicated MSC system without first piloting it on a smaller scale. Every organisational context is different, and MSC will have to be moulded to your particular organisation. It pays to conduct a pilot to find out what works and what does not work. When piloting MSC, try to begin with the people and sections of your organisation that are most interested and enthusiastic about the potential of MSC. Role of championsOnce the pilot is complete, and sufficient interest has been raised, start working out where MSC might best fit in your organisation. Even in these early stages, it is worth identifying key people who are excited by MSC and could act as champions and catalysts in the process. These people can be involved in designing how to implement MSC across the organisation. They will need a greater understanding of MSC so they can respond to the questions that will inevitably arise. These champions can:
Pacific Islands – gaining donor acceptance “In preparing the M&E framework, IDSS followed best practice, meeting donor requirements. With compliance met, the MSC approach was proposed as an additional element beyond the requirements of AusAID … IDSS expects that such support would not have been forthcoming if the MSC had been proposed as a replacement to the conventional logframe based approach. Based on a year of implementation AusAID was also in a position to measure IDSS’ capacity and intent to deliver the Program in accordance with its approach.” (Keren Winterford, 2003, IDSS) Directory: docs docs -> Application for acem docs -> Observational Assessment of Teaching Practices Teaching Assessment Initiative Proposal Submitted to The Teachers for a New Era project docs -> Traditional British values docs -> From Warfighters to Crimefighters: The Origins of Domestic Police Militarization docs -> Borzoi Club of America Register of Merit Program I. What is a Register Of Merit docs -> Protecting the rights of the child in the context of migration docs -> United Nations E/C. 12/Esp/5 docs -> 9th May 1950 the schuman declaration docs -> Getting To Outcomes® in Services for Homeless Veterans 10 Steps for Achieving Accountability Download 451.21 Kb. Share with your friends:
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